Paul J. Banta
God created you for His purpose and with a special passion for soccer. He wants you to be passionate about using your life for Him. He designed you to know Christ as your Savior, and to accomplish great and mighty things that He has planned for you. Ephesians 2:10 indicates that, “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
If you are going to do this coaching thing, know that God designed you to move forward alongside Him and under His authority. Satan hates you, the Creator, and His creation. He hates you so much that he’ll go out of his way to entrap you and then destroy you. As you bring together your passion for Christ and your passion for the game, God will enable you to significantly direct your players’ so that they play soccer and play the game of life better spiritually. God loves it when you use your passion and abilities to please Him.
All of this serving for a loving God can’t happen unless we surrender 100 percent of our hearts to Him on a daily basis. Surrendering to God allows your heart to receive the power of God’s love, grace, and mercy, which you in turn give away to your players as God gives to you. It’s always been about Him and His purposes, which He planned for you.
God created you for His purpose and pleasure, and He eventually will succeed through you where you normally fail on your own. He loves you that much. Are you ready for the challenge and ready to coach for Him by your side? Philippians 4:13 says, "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” He’s ready for you.
Paul Banta has coached youth, university, and semi-pro soccer on both the national and international levels, winning more than six hundred matches since 1968. He has helped found and direct several youth soccer clubs. He is an international soccer coaching educator, speaker, author, and is the founder and president of Global Soccer Ministries International. For over 22 years he has been the director/owner of Coastal Carolina Soccer Camp and Academy, which has educated 1,000's of player, teams and their coaches.
GSM International operates ministry outreach soccer activities, camps, youth leagues, men’s outreach teams, and coaching education programs in a Christian soccer ministry environment in Romania, Jamaica, and Guatemala, and hopefully in Haiti in 2008/9. This ministry provides mission trips for U.S.A. Christian high school and university soccer teams. Through GSM church youth and adult groups attend overseas mission trip opportunities and work with local GSM outreach ministries projects.
Paul has served the Jamaican Football Federation and Football Federation of Belize as a clinician in national coaching courses. Through GSM International, he conducts coaching education courses and soccer symposiums in the countries where GSM is active and throughout the United States.
He has played soccer at the high school, club, college, semi-pro, and professional levels and holds C, B, A, and Y national licenses from the USSF. He holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in physical education. He is married to Joy and they have three sons—Stephen, Nathan, and Joel. He and his wife are enjoying their grandchildren, Ella, Ava, and Dylan.
Contrary to what the world might tell you, God loves you passionately, and He planned, designed, and shaped you for His purposes and for the work He planned for you to do while you’re on this earth. Because God is about love, you were created and have been molded to coach for Him with passion—not for men, women or yourself.
God created you to have a growing knowledge of Him, coaching, and the game itself, so that, inspired by the authority of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, and empowered by the Holy Spirit, you can personally grow in the game of life. God created you for His purpose and with a special passion for soccer. He wants you to be passionate about using your life and gifts for Him. He had you created a set a plan for you to know Christ as your Lord and Savior, and to accomplish all that He has designed for you. He doesn't make mistakes. Ephesians 2:10 indicates that, “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
If you are going to do this coaching thing right, know that God designed you to move forward alongside Him and under His authority. Satan hates you, the Creator, and His creation. He hates you so much that he’ll go out of his way to entrap you and destroy you any way he can. As you bring together your passion for Christ and your passion for the game, God will be enable you to significantly direct your players’ lives so that they can play soccer better and play the game of life better spiritually.
God loves it when you use your passion and abilities to please Him before we please ourselves. But all of this serving of a loving God can’t happen unless we surrender 100 percent of our hearts to Him on a daily basis. Are you ready to do this? Surrendering to God allows your heart to receive the power of God’s love, grace, and mercy, which you in turn give away to your players as God freely gives to you. It’s always been about Him and His purposes, which He planned for you. God created you for His pleasure, and He eventually will succeed through you where you normally fail on your own. He loves you that much.
Your role for God is to make a difference in others by serving them through soccer. You are not to just take from this world; you are to give something back by serving others. As you do this, you will be doing exactly what God set you apart and appointed you for. He has a very special job for you, one with holy outcomes.
It’s all about God. It’s always been about Him, the purposes He planned for you, and the passion He created in you to coach for Him and Him alone. It’s not about you. He’s a jealous God, and He is absolutely in control of His creation. That means you and me, my friend. You’re to be in God’s control and make your decisions based on what pleases Him and what He says in the Bible.
